Friday, July 31, 2009

....... my ever worried mind

Hello. The sun is shining, I'm on holiday (albeit at home) and the weekend is stretching out before me. Does it get any better than this? Well, as it happens, it does: one of my best friends has spontaneously volunteered to share his earworms with us. Excellent.

Well, let's get straight into it then. Without futher ado, it is my great pleasure to present for your earworming pleasure....

Earworms of the week - guest editor #99 - Fiery Little Sod.

G'day blog readers both casual and hardcore - having tapped up Senor Toni for another crack at this I have been indulged with an opportunity when my heart is light and the sun is shining, therefore I make no apologies for the slightly mainstream selection that may follow - I hope it makes you lot smile as much as I did...

Sorry folks, squirmed under the radar courtesy of rubbish TV music channels and having somehow managed to avoid it for two years has now biologically infested my hearing [ella, ella, oh, oh] - oh for s**t's sake - I don't even like this RnB tut!! having said that if it has sneaked in to my head the tune must have a redeeming feature even if I have no idea what it's about...

No sooner had my learned friend postulated that 'Take on Me' was the only visible sign on TV of these chaps existing when they show up on the Jonathan Ross show and belt out another of their 80s classics. Kind of want to ignore the lyrics as they are remarkably downbeat for a catchy tune and focus on smoothly melded guitar/synth work with a fairly stretching vocal range too. So... what are the chances of a Norwegian hat-trick next week then ?

- I take you from the ridiculous to the sublime and the most intense collection of fine lyrics ever assembled: "... wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave...." - get that in a song for the modern age - go on, I dare ya. Yes it is one of their finest and therefore I feel fortunate to have it in my head, but that does not detract from the fact that I still hear it anew every time it shuffles past.

I went to a piss-up in a brewery (honestly) and they had a live band. Various covers of indie bands and tunes had slipped past when the (Scottish) lead singer stood up and said "Now I know I have the accent for this but it doesn't mean I like it.... Who knows 500 f***in' Miles then?". Anyway general raucousness and dodgy singing ensued of which I took a full part - and damn it was a lot of fun! No havering - this is get off your bum music at its finest. As proved when it showed up on a mix by the mighty Statue John on a CD I played in my car whilst trolling through the countryside (yep, one of them disc thingys, I know, shoot me now)

Yes, I know it's not hers, but I saw her perform it live some years ago and no matter who wrote it or sang it before this is the version I know. She paces it well,uses her vocal talents well (if you like that kind of thing - which I tend to) and I just have to remind myself that there is some other, sunnier side to the music to which I listen and and this stuff slides in only once in a while.

Two in a week!! (guilty as charged, Revolver came up on the playlist). But in the case for the defence I would wish to point out I have recently acquired a car of a similar hue to the eponymous submersible and if one required sunnier music then this provides it in spades. In addition, I realised some time ago (maybe 15 years) that if there was an unshiftable tune in one's head then Yellow Submarine, always memorable, easy to recall and frankly could be a lot worse would pretty much fix anything. So you end up with this instead.... so what's to complain about? I commend it to you as the anti-earworm earworm.

sorry for predicability, but missed all the hullabaloo as was at Glasto with the blogmeister for the crucial weekend and came back to relative calmness. This invaded my head whilst strolling through St. James' Park in London as it was being played by a band of the Guards complete with loads of brass and dramatic pauses. I nearly bent double laughing and sure I looked odd to the tourists hurrying to Buck House for the changing of the guard.. anyway.... Jacko.. what about it? I say remember this kinda stuff and balls to all the post '90 freakery (the tune by the way is a corker, teasing verses, easy chorus, generally top)

Seeking an uplifting tune my internal jukebox settled on this with loads of potential air guitar based hopping about and was reminded I saw a live concert of his on some digital channel a while back and he teased the audience with two or three chords of this tune before riffing off into something else--did it at least twice before he really played it but I still think this was what they came to hear. And why wouldn't you? this contains most of the essence of early rock'n'roll that led to kids in the US picking up guitars and playing the s**t out of them. Yeah, it's off the blues and maybe there were others but this was c.1958 and it cannot have had no effect .

touch of self-indulgence as I have spent the last 3 months sans employment until this week, therefore I can hum this happily rather than in desperation. I am sure it provided inspiration and was suffused with potential on release but will, for me (and many others) forever be associated with the closing titles of Trading Places and an uplifting feeling of having got one over on the merchant bankers of this crummy world.. join in now --sha na na na sha na na na na

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so there it goes, another window on to the world of this mildly musically challenged but nonetheless enthusiastic supporter of this fine enterprise, many thanks to Swiss and sure normal service will be resumed shortly....

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Thanks mate. Always a pleasure to have you round these parts, you know that. Congratulations on the job too. Excellent news. "Get a Job". Now that's some earworm to leave us with......

Incidentally, Guest Editors are always welcome around here. You only have to ask.